The Australian Rural Doctors' Association (RDAA) says because of the shortage of doctors in rural and remote Australia people in the bush die sooner.
According to the Rural Doctors' Association the shortage of doctors in such areas is very severe and at least 1,000 doctors are needed immediately in rural and remote Australia to guarantee even basic medical coverage.
The RDAA says as of March 2007, only 2 of the 280 Queensland medical graduates from 2005 were working in rural and remote locations, and over the past 15 years less than 5% of Queensland and NSW medical graduates have gone to work in the bush.
Rural practices are often not economically viable and rural doctors work longer hours than metropolitan doctors and they also retire earlier.
RDAA president Peter Rischbieth says people living in rural and remote areas in Australia can expect to die three years earlier than those living in metropolitan areas and says there are 16,000 vacancies for General Practitioners in rural Australia, excluding the 6,000 vacant nursing positions.
Dr. Rischbieth says the health outcomes, including cancer outcomes and heart disease outcomes are already much worse in the country.
In 2005-06 it has been estimated that rural Australians received $157 million less in Medicare-funded general practice services than those living in the cities.
Around $100 million of the Commonwealth's Private Health Insurance subsidy is diverted annually to urban Australia instead of rural Australia, because those living in the bush have less access to private healthcare facilities and therefore have a lower take-up of private health insurance.
Over 50% of Australia's small rural maternity units closed down in the last 10 years and many Australians living in rural areas are forced to wait 6 weeks or more for a basic consultation with a doctor or face driving hundreds of kilometres to see a doctor.